The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Eckadriaxe2x80x99.
The new Poinsettia a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Encinitas, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Poinsettia cultivars having flower bracts with desirable colors, uniform plant habit and excellent post-production longevity.
The new Poinsettia is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Poinsettia cultivar 490, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,825. The new Poinsettia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the parent cultivar in a controlled environment in Encinitas, Calif., in December, 1997. The selection of this plant was based on its attractive flower bract colors and good plant form and substance.
Asexual reproduction of the new Poinsettia by terminal cuttings taken at Encinitas, Calif., since 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Poinsettia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Eckadriaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Eckadriaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Inflorescences with red and pink bi-colored flower bracts and large cyathia clusters.
2. Dark green-colored leaves with burgundy-colored petioles.
3. Upright and uniform plant habit.
4. Freely branching habit.
5. Early flowering, natural season flower maturity date is November 18 for plants grown in Encinitas, Calif.; response time, about 7.5 weeks.
6. Excellent post-production longevity.
Plants of the new Poinsettia differ primarily from plants of the mutation parent, the cultivar 490, in flower bract color. In addition, flower bracts of the new Poinsettia are orientated more upright than flower bracts of plants of the cultivar 490.
Plants of the new Poinsettia can be compared to plants of the Poinsettia cultivar 490 Jingle Bells, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,771. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new Poinsettia differed from plants of the cultivar 490 Jingle Bells in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Poinsettia are taller and more upright than plants of the cultivar 490 Jingle Bells.
2. Plants of the new Poinsettia have narrower and more pointed flower bracts than plants of the cultivar 490 Jingle Bells.
3. Flower bracts of plants of the new Poinsettia have more pink coloration than flower bracts of plants of the cultivar 490 Jingle Bells.
4. Cyathia clusters of plants of the new Poinsettia are more open than cyathia clusters of the cultivar 490 Jingle Bells.